Your Rent Review Explained - A letter from our CEO, plus Help and Advice

Your rent increase explained

15th February 2023

Dear Resident

By the end of February, you should receive a letter from Inquilab informing you that, from April, your rent will go up by 7%.

As Chief Executive of Inquilab, I wanted to explain what this means, and why it is necessary.

Normally, annual rent increases are linked to the Consumer Price Index, which matches the rate of inflation as of September, plus a notional uplift of 1%. On this basis, this year’s rent increase would have been 11.1%.

However, to protect residents from cost-of-living pressures, the Government has introduced a rent cap for 2023. This means that the maximum rent increase is 7%.
  
Whilst we welcome and support this rent cap in the interests of our residents, it is necessary for us to apply the maximum of 7% this year.

This is due to the rising costs of labour and materials which have gone up between 10-15% in the past year, putting significant pressure on our organisation in delivering repairs, fire remedial inspection/works, and installing new boilers, windows, kitchens and bathrooms - all of which are more expensive than they were a year ago. The cost of our energy bills as a business are also four times higher than they were.

If we had set rent increases below the 7% cap, we would have to make cuts to services and investment because what it costs to provide these services are rising by much more than that.

As an example, if we had increased rent by only 5%, the impact would have meant delaying some of our planned investment in existing homes, such as replacing kitchens and bathrooms. We would also have had to reduce the number of homes where we are installing energy efficiency measures, as well as making staffing reductions in some customer service roles.

It is never an easy decision to set a rent increase. Together with our Board, we considered the average incomes in the areas where we provide homes against the levels of rent to ensure they remained affordable. Whilst the Government rent cap does not apply to Shared Ownership rents, in order to be fair and to support all our customers equally, we have agreed that those rent rises should also be limited to a 7% increase.

Finally, I know that the past year has been very difficult for many of our residents and will continue to be so in the months ahead. It has also been a really challenging time for Inquilab and our people to provide the services you need.

I want to assure you that we will continue to work hard and to do the very best we can for you, and all our residents, with the resources that we have.  

Thank you for taking the time to read this message and for your support of Inquilab and our people at this time.

Yours sincerely

Gina Amoh, Chief Executive

FOR MORE INFORMATION, HELP AND ADVICE, PLEASE CLICK BELOW.

2023 Rent Review, Help and Advice (2.9MB)

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